Miscellaneous unorganized material/WTOK-TV
edit Digital television The station's digital signal is multiplexed. edit History The station began broadcasting on September 27, 1953 as the second television station in Mississippi and the first on the VHF band (WJTV in Jackson had started broadcasting in January of that year on a UHF frequency). It started as a primary CBS affiliate but carried programming from ABC, NBC and DuMont as well. DuMont folded in 1955, NBC went to WHTV (now WMDN) in 1972 (via its status as a satellite of Tupelo's WTWV, now WTVA). It became an exclusive ABC affiliate in 1980, sending CBS to WHTV. ABC had become the highest-rated network in the nation by this time, and wanted a station that would clear all of its programming. WTOK served as a partial Fox affiliate in the mid-1990s carrying NFL broadcasts as well as selected Fox programming in late night time-slots. At one point WTOK was co-owned with KARK-TV in Little Rock, Arkansas. In 1988, then-owner United Broadcasting was taken over by investment firm Merrill Lynch who then sold its three stations off to separate buyers. That year, Benedek Broadcasting bought WTOK. When Benedek's parent company went bankrupt in 2002, current owner Gray Television bought most of the Benedek stations, including WTOK. It has long been the dominant station in eastern Mississippi due to its status as the only VHF station in the area. For a time in the early-1990s, it was the only over-the-air commercial station in town by default after both of its rivals went off-the-air. In early-2006, WTOK began broadcasting a Fox affiliate (known as "Fox Meridian") on its new second digital subchannel. For Meridian viewers, WTOK-DT2 replaced Foxnet as well as Tuscaloosa, Alabama's Fox affiliate, WDBB. Starting on September 5, 2006, WTOK-DT2 began airing programming from Fox's new sister network, MyNetworkTV. Shows from that network aired Monday through Saturday nights from 9 to 11. Gray Television signed a deal to add The CW (the new network created by the merger of The WB and UPN) on new digital subchannels of four of its owned stations (including WTOK). WTOK-DT3 began broadcasting The CW on the network's launch date September 18. The station is part of the national CW Plus service. After WGBC acquired the Fox affiliation in late-2008, WTOK-DT2 was rebranded "myTOK2" to reflect the channel's shift to primary MyNetworkTV affiliation. It also moved from Comcast cable channel 10 to channel 2. After the analog television shutdown and digital conversion that took place on June 12, 2009 at 9 in the morning, WTOK moved its digital broadcasts back to its present analog channel number, 11. edit Newscasts Since WMDN closed its news department in 2005, WTOK has been the only station in the area to air local news. The station's newscasts are branded under the "NewsCenter" label. Unlike most ABC affiliates, WTOK does not broadcast a midday newscast during the week. WTOK-DT2 "myTOK2" rebroadcasts Good Morning Meridian at 7:30 in the morning. It also re-airs the weeknight editions of NewsCenter 11 at 10 at Midnight and Sunday nights at 11. Like all CW Plus affiliates, WTOK-DT3 airs the nationally syndicated morning show, The Daily Buzz, weekdays from 5 to 8. During weather segments, WTOK uses live NOAA National Weather Service radar data from a weather radar east of Jackson. It is known on-air in weather segments as "True View Live Doppler". During severe weather, the station simulcasts its coverage on WMOX-AM 1010 and via live streaming video on its website. edit Current Staff Anchors *Andrea Williams - weekday mornings and reporter *Wade Phillips - weeknights at 5/Executive Producer *John Johnson - News Director seen weeknights at 6 and Director of Community Relations *Lindsey Brown - Anchor and Reporter *Rachel Alig - Weekend Anchor and Reporter Newscenter 11 Weather Team *Stephen Bowers (NWA Member) - Chief Meteorologist *Jessica Dealy - Morning Meteorologist and reporter Sports *Lindsey Hall - Director seen weeknights at 6 and 10 *Nick Adam - weekends and reporter Reporters *Sheila McLain - News Manager *Sidney Luvene - Chief Photographer *Christian Monsour - Photographer *Rebecca Ward - Photographer and weekday morning producer edit Former staff *Trent Huges - Chief Meteorologist (left television) *Tom Daniels - weeknights at 6 and 10 (Retired) *Jason Dunning - Weekend Meteorologist (now with WCBI in Columbus, Mississippi) *Bill Evans (Now Morning Meteorologist at WABC New York City) *Chris Brennaman Reporter/Photographer *Ethan Huston - Weekend Weather (now morning meteorologist with WAPT in Jackson, Mississippi) *Heather Cook - Weekend Sports Anchor (now weekend sports anchor/reporter with WDAM-TV in Hattiesburg, Missisippi) *Chris Whited - Morning Meteorologist & Reporter (now Morning & Midday Meteorologist at KRBC-TV in Abilene, Texas) *Josh Johnson - Chief Meteorologist (now morning and noon meteorologist with WSFA-TV in Montgomery, Alabama) *Charles Daniel - Morning Meteorologist & Reporter (now Morning Meteorologist on Wake Up Alabama with WIAT-TV in Birmingham, Alabama) *Joshua McKinney - Weekend Meteorologist (now with News 14 Carolina in Raleigh, NC) *Renee' LaSalle - Weekend Anchor & Reporter (now with WDEF-TV in Chattanooga, Tennessee) *Gina Neville - Anchor *Melissa Pace - Anchor & Reporter *Garrett Sheehan - Reporter *Brett Newtson - Weekend Sports Anchor *Paul Wetzl - Weekend Meteorologist 1997-1998(Now with WKBN and WYFX Youngstown, Ohio) *Lea Doolittle - Reporter *Barbara Kidd - News Manager *LaTonya Norton - Weekend Anchor & Reporter (now with WDSU-TV in New Orleans, Louisiana) *Clay Miller - Weekend Sports Anchor & Reporter (now with WBBH-TV in Fort Myers, Florida) *Joe Norwood - Photographer (now Lauderdale County, Mississippi District 4 Supervisor) *George McDonald - Reporter & Photographer (now with WAKA-TV in Montgomery, Alabama) *Jeff Shepard - Weekend Sports Anchor *Tyler Helms - Weekend Anchor & Reporter *Stan Torgerson - Reporter (deceased) *Jim Loznicka - Chief Meteorologist (now with WJHG-TV in Panama City, Florida) *Wes Wyatt - Chief Meteorologist (now with WVUA-TV in Tuscaloosa, Alabama) *Jason Simpson - Chief Meteorologist (now morning meteorologist with ABC 33/40 in Birmingham, Alabama) *Aisha Greer (Tyler)- Reporter *Jamie Triplett - Weekend Sports Anchor & Reporter *Leah Garey - Reporter *Bob Holland - Anchor; Prog. Manager 1953 - ? - ( now voice overs, etc. Public Broadcast MS) *Mike Golden - Reporter *Joe Saxon, Sr. Chief Engineer 1953 - ? *Cecil Germany Production Director 1953 - ? (deceased) *George Shannon Commercial Manager 1953 - ? (deceased) edit News/Station presentation edit Newscast titles *''Your Esso Reporter'' (1953-early 1960s) *''Newsnight'' (late 1960s-early 1970s) *''TV-11 News'' (late 1970s-early 1980s) *''NewsCenter 11'' (early 1980s-present) edit Station slogans *''East Mississippi and West Alabama's News Leader'' (1994–present) edit External links *WTOK-DT "Channel 11" *WTOK wireless *WTOK-DT3 "Meridian CW" *Query the FCC's TV station database for WTOK-TV